Interviews with club managers and general managers, strategy analysis from former GMDan O’Dowd, and player breakdowns from analysts Mark DeRosa, Mike Lowell, Kevin Millar, Carlos Peña, Dan Plesac and Harold Reynolds will be featured throughout MLB Network’scoverage from the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort, beginning with MLB Tonight this Sunday, December 10 at 6:00 p.m. ET. Each of MLB Network’s offseason studio shows will air live on-site from Monday, December 11 through Thursday, December 14, beginning with Hot Stove at 9:00 a.m. ET, followed by High Heat with Christopher Russo, MLB Now, Intentional Talk and MLB Tonight.

MLB Network’s coverage will also feature the Modern Baseball Era election results announcement from the National Baseball Hall of Fame this Sunday, December 10 during MLB Tonight at 6:00 p.m. ET. Steve Garvey, Tommy John, Don Mattingly, Marvin Miller, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, Ted Simmons, Luis Tiant andAlan Trammell were named last month as the candidates for Modern Baseball Era Committee consideration for the Class of 2018.

MLB Network’s complete programming schedule and a link to its authenticated live stream are available at www.MLBNetwork.com.

]]>http://sportsmediareport.net/2017/12/06/mlb-network-to-air-winter-meetings-coverage/feed/0YouTube TV & Major League Baseball: A multi-faceted 2017 World Series partnershiphttp://sportsmediareport.net/2017/10/03/youtube-tv-major-league-baseball-a-multi-faceted-2017-world-series-partnership/
http://sportsmediareport.net/2017/10/03/youtube-tv-major-league-baseball-a-multi-faceted-2017-world-series-partnership/#commentsTue, 03 Oct 2017 21:09:43 +0000http://sportsmediareport.net/?p=2324YouTube and Major League Baseball today announced a multi-faceted partnership to drive fan excitement for the 2017 World Series, as well as showcase another way for baseball fans to watch the national pastime with a new cable-free, live TV service — YouTube TV.

As part of the partnership, YouTube TV will serve as the presenting sponsor of the 2017 World Series with a variety of national TV spots and on-air call-outs on FOX during each game, branding across MLB’s digital properties and official social media accounts, as well as in-stadium promotion. YouTube TV is also expected to incorporate MLB players competing in the Postseason in its promotional efforts. YouTube TV launched in April 2017 to provide audiences around the country a new, more flexible way to enjoy their favorite live TV programming – including sports – outside of a traditional cable subscription. The service is currently launched in 49 TV markets (DMAs), representing two-thirds of the country.

To bridge digital audiences to the World Series and raise awareness for YouTube TV as a new way to watch one of the biggest sporting events of the year, the partnership will also see the two parties engaging MLB players and YouTube creators to take fans behind the scenes of the Series. They will generate original, World Series-themed content featuring special access at the participating ballparks, engagement with MLB players and personalities, and sights and sounds of all aspects of the Fall Classic. YouTube TV and MLB will also give a few lucky fans the chance of a lifetime to experience the World Series in-person as a VIP including behind-the-scenes access and an opportunity to be highlighted during the FOX national broadcast*.

“We built a cable-free service that makes it easier than ever for fans to get access to their favorite live TV programming – including amazing live sporting events like the World Series on FOX.” said Kelly Merryman, Managing Director, Content Partnerships Americas, YouTube. “When we were thinking about partnerships to showcase the power of YouTube TV, Major League Baseball and the World Series was the perfect fit. It’s a great next step in our long-term relationship with the league.”

MLB has been an innovator in the digital sports arena, investing in engaging fans on YouTube for years, as well as through a broad range of digital platforms and products. The YouTube TV partnership builds upon the league’s 10+ year strategy to reach fans wherever they are. This year alone, for example, MLB’s engagement and content strategy on YouTube has generated over 1 billion views.

“We are proud to team with You Tube on its first major partnership to help raise national awareness for YouTube TV,” said Noah Garden, MLB Executive Vice President, Business. “YouTube TV is an exciting new offering for fans providing them with increased flexibility to enjoy FOX’s broadcast of the Fall Classic on any device.”

“This is an exciting time for FOX Sports, Major League Baseball and the industry as a whole,” said Mark Evans, Senior Vice President, FOX Sports Sales. “YouTube TV provides a fresh, unique perspective that sparks new and creative ways for us and our partners to innovate.”

YouTube TV includes:

Nearly 50 networks, including live local feeds from ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC in most markets, plus popular cable networks like ESPN, AMC and FX, and local sports networks from NBC Sports in 13 markets, FOX Sports in 22 markets, and NESN in Boston.

A cloud DVR, with no storage limits that travels with subscribers within in the United States so you can stream recordings on any device, whenever and wherever you want. It enables subscribers to record live TV and never run out of storage plus record shows simultaneously, without using precious data or space on your phone. Each recording will be stored for nine months.

YouTube TV can be watched on any screen – mobile, tablet or computer – and easily streamed to your TV with a Google Chromecast, Chromecast built-in TV, and AirPlay through Apple TV.

Six accounts per household. Every YouTube TV membership comes with six accounts, each with its own unique recommendations and personal DVR with no storage space limits. Subscribers can watch up to three concurrent streams at a time.

Half the cost of cable with zero commitments. A YouTube TV membership is only $35 a month and there are no commitments – subscribers cancel anytime.

YouTube TV will continue to quickly expand to cover more cities across the country in the coming weeks and months. Visit tv.youtube.com and sign up to find out when it will launch in your market.

* The sweepstakes is expected to launch in early October. Complete details and official rules will be shared on YouTube’s and MLB’s social platforms.

Fifty-one media outlets have signed on to broadcast the 2017 World Baseball Classic, which began earlier today in Seoul, South Korea. The fourth installment of the premier international baseball tournament, which features the world’s top 16 National Teams competing over a 17-day span, will be distributed via media platforms in 182 countries and territories worldwide with a global reach of more than 415 million households. In addition to local language coverage and play-by-play, World Baseball Classic Inc. (WBCI) will offer a fully-produced English-language feed of each game for global distribution. WBCI worked with MP & Silva, a leading international media rights agency, on the global media distribution for the tournament.

Broadcasts from the previous edition of the World Baseball Classic in 2013 set numerous records around the world. The 2013 Final was one of the most watched sporting events in Dominican Republic history and was the year’s most watched sporting event in Puerto Rico. Japan vs. the Kingdom of the Netherlands (March 10, 2013) was the most viewed sporting event over the previous 12 months in Japan, out-rating all 2012 Olympic coverage. In Chinese Taipei, an extra-inning thriller between Japan and Chinese Taipei was the highest-rated cable program in the country’s history.

In the United States, the 2013 World Baseball Classic delivered six of MLB Network’s top seven most-watched games outside of the Postseason. The 2013 tournament also delivered the Network’s most-watched March and the most-watched first quarter in its history. The 2013 Final was the most-viewed baseball game ever on ESPN Deportes at the time.

In 2009, the Korea vs. Japan Final (March 23, 2009) averaged more than 14 million viewers across Korea, where all nine Team Korea tournament games achieved an average audience of 9.4 million. In the inaugural 2006 tournament, the Cuba vs Japan Final received the third best rating at the time for any professional baseball broadcast in Japan since 1977.

Rosters for the 2017 World Baseball Classic feature tournament record totals of 63 MLB All-Stars and 259 players under contract with MLB organizations.

“With so many outstanding players participating, the anticipation for an exciting and action packed tournament is high,” said Major League Baseball Players Association Chief of Business Affairs, Timothy Slavin. “We expect record-breaking television audiences will witness some incredible performances.”

“The World Baseball Classic is a truly premium global sports property that excites baseball fans around the world,” said Jochen Lösch, Chief Executive Officer at MP & Silva. “I’m pleased that MP & Silva has been able to use its international network to secure broadcasting deals covering more than 180 territories for the tournament. MP & Silva is proud of its relationship with the World Baseball Classic and we are delighted to have contributed towards the tournament’s global visibility, fan engagement, and commercial success.”

]]>http://sportsmediareport.net/2017/03/08/2017-world-baseball-classic-to-be-broadcast-in-182-countries-territories/feed/0Fitch: Long-Term TV Deals Strengthen U.S. Sports 2017 Outlookhttp://sportsmediareport.net/2016/12/08/fitch-long-term-tv-deals-strengthen-u-s-sports-2017-outlook/
http://sportsmediareport.net/2016/12/08/fitch-long-term-tv-deals-strengthen-u-s-sports-2017-outlook/#commentsThu, 08 Dec 2016 22:19:08 +0000http://sportsmediareport.net/?p=1820Declines in TV viewership early in the NFL season have turned out to be little more than an election-related blip and will not adversely affect the stable outlook in place for U.S. sports finance next year, according to Fitch Ratings in its 2017 outlook for U.S. sports.

The primary reason is the long-term national television agreements in place for all four major U.S. sports leagues. The NBA’s new national television contract (now in effect) represents a roughly three-fold increase and follows significant renewals by the NFL, MLB and NHL. Also helping matters is continued stable attendance at most major stadiums. ‘Leagues and teams face facility reinvestment needs to maintain attendance levels and attract corporate sponsorship, making rehabilitation and renewal programs key to drive both overall interest and prices,’ said Senior Director Chad Lewis.

Labor peace is another major driver in Fitch’s stable outlook for U.S. sports. Strengthening the picture is the MLB’s tentative new five-year collective bargaining agreement reached last month. The lone potential outlier is the NBA, which can opt out of their CBA next week. That said, owners and players have many incentives in place so as to avoid missing games given strong revenues, making this ‘What If’ scenario unlikely.

Where the sports sector could experience some future headaches is around funding for new sports stadiums, particularly among state and local governments saddled with budgetary issues. Nearly all of the new professional stadiums and arenas received sizeable funding contributions. But the spotlight is getting brighter on the national infrastructure funding gap, which could place increased scrutiny on public funds toward new sports facilities. ‘As construction costs continue to increase, the few remaining major league teams may face difficulty financing a new facility in absence of some public funding,’ said Lewis.

]]>http://sportsmediareport.net/2016/12/08/fitch-long-term-tv-deals-strengthen-u-s-sports-2017-outlook/feed/0WHOOP Announces Findings of Largest Performance Study Ever Conducted in Professional Sportshttp://sportsmediareport.net/2016/12/07/whoop-announces-findings-of-largest-performance-study-ever-conducted-in-professional-sports/
http://sportsmediareport.net/2016/12/07/whoop-announces-findings-of-largest-performance-study-ever-conducted-in-professional-sports/#commentsWed, 07 Dec 2016 17:04:04 +0000http://sportsmediareport.net/?p=1814WHOOP, the human performance optimization company, today announced the results of a performance study involving minor league players from nine Major League Baseball (MLB) organizations. The landmark study, which was conducted with 230 minor league players from June – November, 2016, was designed to monitor the relationship between physiological status and performance, using quantifiable data capturing physiological stress on professional athletes (Strain), and the body’s preparedness for stress (Recovery). It is the first study of its kind in professional sports in the United States. The results were presented to the medical and strength and conditioning staffs from all MLB organizations at the 2016 Baseball Winter Meetings in National Harbor, Maryland, at Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center.

“I’m impressed with Major League Baseball’s commitment to innovation and their data-driven approach to understanding the rigors of the professional season. The initial findings of this study confirm the need for continuous physiological monitoring in professional sports, including in-game monitoring to improve player health and safety,” said Will Ahmed, WHOOP Founder and CEO. “By conducting the largest performance study ever in any U.S. professional sports league, WHOOP has set the foundation for future research that will empower baseball organizations to think differently about the traditional constructs of the game related to managing rosters, lineups and pitching rotations. The teams that embrace this culture of performance-enhancing data will have a distinct advantage.”

“We believe a number of factors affect player recovery, from travel schedules to sleep quality and stress levels from workouts and games. We partnered with WHOOP to better understand athlete recovery and to help the athlete understand the recovery process. We are excited about the potential for this technology to decrease injuries and enhance player performance,” Orioles Executive Vice President, Baseball Operations Dan Duquette said.

“We have been very encouraged by the early feedback from our players and staff who have used WHOOP this season. One of our biggest priorities is to help our athletes manage healthy and long-lasting careers and we believe that working with WHOOP will help advance that goal,” added Braves Director of Player Health & Performance Andrew Hauser.

]]>http://sportsmediareport.net/2016/12/07/whoop-announces-findings-of-largest-performance-study-ever-conducted-in-professional-sports/feed/0The Golden Age Of Baseball, Selections From The National Pastime Museumhttp://sportsmediareport.net/2016/08/31/the-golden-age-of-baseball-selections-from-the-national-pastime-museum/
http://sportsmediareport.net/2016/08/31/the-golden-age-of-baseball-selections-from-the-national-pastime-museum/#commentsWed, 31 Aug 2016 12:29:10 +0000http://sportsmediareport.net/?p=1654Christie’s is honored to present one of the most important and comprehensive collections of baseball memorabilia and photography ever offered at auction with The Golden Age of Baseball, Selections from the National Pastime Museum, a two-day auction on October 19-20 in New York. The sale is the largest collection of baseball ephemera to appear at an international auction house in more than 15 years. Comprised of a remarkable assemblage of game-used bats, letters, contracts, memorabilia and a treasury of vintage baseball photography, Part I of the sale is devoted to memorabilia and Part II is devoted to photography. With 485 lots in total, estimates start at $300-500 for photographs and memorabilia, while the top lot of the auction is a “Shoeless” Joe Jackson Professional Model Bat, estimated at $500,000-700,000. The contents of the auction are from the National Pastime Museum, which is an online museum based on a private collection of baseball artifacts.

“From baseball’s earliest days through its golden era, the game’s most iconic players are represented in this collection. Of particular interest are the remarkably rare items pertaining to The Negro Leagues and the legendary ballplayers who played in them,” remarks Simeon Lipman, Christie’s Consultant, Pop Culture.

The auction represents the legends of baseball, spanning more than 130 years from the inception of the game through modern day, with items owned and used by icons such as Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig, Willie Mays, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Jimmy Foxx, as well as a bat used by Derek Jeter. Letters and contracts from Ty Cobb, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, and Cy Young, in addition to notable pieces relating to Jackie Robinson, Mike “King” Kelly, Roberto Clemente and Christy Mathewson are also available.

The collection is notable for some of the greatest artifacts extant relating to the Negro Leagues and its most celebrated stars such as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Oscar Charleston. Another feature of the collection is the significant amount of items and photographs detailing the history of Cuban baseball, including Cuban Cigarrillos cards and items signed by Martin DiHigo.

Other rare highlights of the auction include the ball that ended the 1909 World Series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Detroit Tigers (estimate: $10,000-$15,000), and an 1898 contract from the pioneering woman in baseball, Lizzie Stride (Arlington) (estimate: $10,000-15,000).

Laura Paulson, Chairman, Christie’s Americas, comments, “The collection, one of the most comprehensive and distinguished of its kind, includes extraordinary offerings that chronicle the profound social and cultural significance of America’s National Pastime. This is a rare opportunity for collectors and enthusiasts to experience and own rare and historical memorabilia, artifacts, and photographs which tell the story of a game that continues to create passion and excitement season after season. We are honored to be presenting this collection to the public and look forward to sharing its treasures in the next months as it tours the United States and in our exhibition galleries in Rockefeller Center in October.”

]]>http://sportsmediareport.net/2016/08/31/the-golden-age-of-baseball-selections-from-the-national-pastime-museum/feed/0Topps®, MLB, MLBPA Partner for ‘National Baseball Card Day’http://sportsmediareport.net/2016/08/11/topps-mlb-mlbpa-partner-for-national-baseball-card-day/
http://sportsmediareport.net/2016/08/11/topps-mlb-mlbpa-partner-for-national-baseball-card-day/#commentsThu, 11 Aug 2016 14:42:49 +0000http://sportsmediareport.net/?p=1604Topps, Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) have announced that they are joining with hobby stores to celebrate National Baseball Card Day on Saturday, with limited edition six-card packs available at participating shops around the country.

The 2016 National Baseball Card Day card designs and checklist was unveiled Wednesday during the 37th National Sports Collectors Convention. These unique cards feature some of today’s best players, such as Mike Trout, Bryce Harper and David Ortiz, with an additional card available as a gift with a $10 Topps purchase at local participating hobby stores.

“We are always looking for ways to introduce or reintroduce the local hobby stores to consumers and National Baseball Card day is an exciting new avenue we have to do this,” said David Leiner, Topps’ GM and Vice President of North American Sports and Entertainment. “It’s great to partner with Major League Baseball and the Players Association for the day to amplify the whole event as well.”

As part of the celebration, fans can also visit participating hobby retailers for special gifts with select purchases, contests and giveaways throughout National Baseball Card Day. Fans can follow along with the day’s happenings across the official social channels of Topps, MLB and the MLBPA using #BaseballCardDay. Related online contests and giveaways are also planned throughout the day and during the week leading up to the event.

Major Leaguers will demonstrate their support of National Baseball Card Day on Friday, August 12, when players in select ballparks will be giving away some sample packs from the field prior to games that day.

“National Baseball Card Day is an opportunity for fans to enjoy the time-honored tradition of card collecting in the middle of a very competitive MLB season,” said Steve Armus, MLB Senior Vice President, Consumer Products. “With cards featuring MLB’s top exciting young stars and David Ortiz in his final season, this set has plenty to offer baseball card collectors.”

“National Baseball Card Day is a great way to celebrate the rich tie between fans and Major League baseball players,” said Evan Kaplan, Director, Licensing and Business Development at the Major League Baseball Players Association. “There’s a special feeling when opening a pack of baseball cards and finding your favorite player.”

Ultra Pro will also be supplying a limited number of “one touch” card cases as an additional purchase incentive. National Baseball Card Day packs will include a special Topps BUNT promotional code card for baseball fans to experience the digital side of card collecting and Topps has also randomly inserted autographed cards in select packs.

For more information, to find your local participating hobby retailer or purchase cards, please visit Topps.com/promotions or MLBShop.com/topps.

]]>http://sportsmediareport.net/2016/08/11/topps-mlb-mlbpa-partner-for-national-baseball-card-day/feed/0‘Fastball’ Goes High And Tighthttp://sportsmediareport.net/2016/03/24/fastball-goes-high-and-tight/
http://sportsmediareport.net/2016/03/24/fastball-goes-high-and-tight/#commentsThu, 24 Mar 2016 02:20:43 +0000http://sportsmediareport.net/?p=1186“What is a film about the fastball?”

That’s the question that Jonathan Hock, director of the best sports documentaries you have seen or should see (The Lost Son of Havana, Off the Rez, “30 for 30” shorts “The Best there Never Was,” “Of Miracles and Men,” to name just four) posed after fielding a call from noted producer Thomas Tull, who had an idea for a film.

“Usually in the films we make about sports, there is a narrative, a game you’re building up to, or something where you are taking a character on a journey,” Hock told a sellout crowd at Tuesday’s screening of what that idea would become, the feature-length documentary Fastball at the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center in Montclair, N.J. “That’s sort of the formula for filmmaking. This was about a concept. I was flummoxed, frankly.”

Hock and his team shot hours of interviews with Hall of Famers including Bob Gibson, Hank Aaron, Rich Gossage and Nolan Ryan and soon-to-be-enshrinee Derek Jeter among many others. To tell the story of the fastball, the film uses the hook of the captivating the pitch has held on fans, dating it back to the immortal Walter Johnson. With the question of who threw the fastest pitch ever a thread, sections featured Johnson, Bob Feller, Nolan Ryan, Sandy Koufax, Aroldis Chapman, Craig Kimbrel and the enigmatic Steve Dalkowski. (Side note: there’s an effective use of a Dalkowski rookie card that neatly gets across the point of his place in baseball history, to men of a certain age at least.)

Fastball works because it is ultimately about people, not math (there is some brain science, but it’s not too overwhelming). Baseball fans will revel in the game footage as well as the archival images of early attempts to track pitch speed, dating all the way back to primitive contraptions clocking Johnson’s heater a century ago.

The film opens in select theaters nationwide on Friday, and will also be available on VOD, iTunes and other formats beginning that day.

Hock discussed a few other elements of the film in his post-screening discussion with fans on Tuesday.

On whether there were other pitchers he would have included in the film given more time:
“There were some that were definitely left out of the story… Don Drysdale, Ryne Duren, who we couldn’t really find footage of, Bullet Bob Turley, Sam McDowell, Jim Maloney, but there wasn’t really data, so at some point you’re just listing guys. Randy Johnson … just really didn’t want to be interviewed.”

On a Nolan Ryan story that didn’t make the film
“In 1986…the playoffs against the Mets, [the Astros] had kind of been nursing him through the year, he was 39, sort of had a sore arm, he pitched that amazing game against [Dwight] Gooden, when he stayed in the game, I think, through nine and Gooden pitched into the 10th and the Mets beat them in 10. Nolan Ryan went home and went to see [Dr.] James Andrews. He did his examination and said, ‘Nolan, bad news, it’s torn. I’m not sure if it’s completely torn, I’d have to pull it back further, so you’re going to need surgery.’ And at that point it’s like a year and a half before you can start throwing again after Tommy John surgery, so Nolan said, ‘I’m 39 years old, I’m going to be 41 by the time I can throw, I’m just going to see what happens.’ He said normally he would start throwing on December 15, and this off season he waited until January 15. He picked up a ball, started throwing it, felt OK. [It was] seven more seasons before it finally went.”

On the psyche of pitchers of how they felt after hitting a batter“What they said to me was that you get into a different head and you are not thinking about it as a person. Not hitting someone on purpose. If it hits him, you sort of just wait for another ball, and go back in. Later, they allow themselves to think about what might have happened. But Dalkowski, what they said about him was that his first year in the minor leagues he actually tore a kid’s ear off. At that point he never pitched inside, they tried to correct his wildness by having him practice with two batters. But that wasn’t his problem; he was never going to hit a guy, but he couldn’t get it straight [high/low]. Walter Johnson, they say if he had the personality to pitch inside that he would have set every record. There is anecdotal stuff about that, that he hit somebody as a young man also and he never wanted to hit somebody again.”

On the sad story of Dalkowski
On the Blu-Ray there is an extended Dalkowski interview section that gets into what happened with him. He started drinking… He had been drinking while he was playing and he was apparently a wild man in more than one way, and when he got hurt and was released he suffered a terrible ordeal with alcoholism. He was in Stockton, Calif., and became a migrant farm worker picking fruit in Central Valley, California. Then he disappeared…and surfaced… His sister brought him back to New Britain, Connecticut, he was diagnosed with what they call alcohol-induced dementia… He’s had a lot of therapy… We had originally had him near the end of the film… But it was just too sad.

On the process/writing to highlight the excitement of the fastball
The very first thing we shot was Dalkowski; we found him and figured we had better hurry. Then we went up to the Hall of Fame on Induction weekend. We had the idea to get a handful of the good talkers [George Brett, Joe Morgan, Tony Gwynn, Al Kaline, Johnny Bench] in the Hall of Fame plaque gallery, to tea about the fastball. They were there less than two hours. That just happened, we just were getting them set and they just went over and starting talking about the guys. It was a little bit of spontaneous filmmaking. It really did take a long time to figure out how to put it together. Breaking it up into bits we could handle. We edited this for a long time.

On how he worked math and physics into determining the fastest pitch ever
We went to these physics professors and told them what we wanted to do and they spend a month thinking about it. The idea of the ball disappearing was fascinating. All these Hall of Famers said the ball would disappear, so I mentioned that to these professors of brain and cognition and they immediately understood because they explained that when the eye tracks an object in motion, you’re not actually on the ball all the way, you’re actually racing your eyes and head to where you think the ball is going to go, and most of us can go about a tenth of a second ahead, and the people with the greatest vision in the world can go two tenths of a second ahead, which is exactly the distance and amount of time it takes to swing. So if you go to swing and it isn’t there, it has literally disappeared in the part of your brain that registers vision.

]]>http://sportsmediareport.net/2016/03/24/fastball-goes-high-and-tight/feed/0R.B.I. Baseball 16 Set For Global Console Distributionhttp://sportsmediareport.net/2016/03/18/r-b-i-baseball-16-set-for-global-console-distribution/
http://sportsmediareport.net/2016/03/18/r-b-i-baseball-16-set-for-global-console-distribution/#commentsFri, 18 Mar 2016 13:12:35 +0000http://sportsmediareport.net/?p=1176R.B.I. Baseball 16, as developed by MLBAM, will be available on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and Xbox One on March 29 as a digital download and, for the first time since the popular baseball video game franchise returned three years ago, fans will be able to purchase R.B.I. Baseball 16 at participating retail stores in the United States and Canada. R.B.I. Baseball 16 will be available at those retailers beginning April 5.

This year’s global distribution will more than double the available regions where baseball fans can buy R.B.I. Baseball 16 as a digital download on consoles, including in European countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands for the first time since its return by MLBAM.

As was announced in January, Boston Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts will be the cover athlete for R.B.I. Baseball 16. Exclusively in Canada, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman will be featured on the game’s cover.

The fun, fast-paced game will bring new graphics and lighting as well as a suite of additional features, including: new fielding capabilities with dives, wall catches, fake throws and more; an improved batting engine with variable perfect timing; a reworked pitching strategy AI; sim a game or multiple games; modify a team’s lineup pre-game or in-game, including double switches.

R.B.I. Baseball 16 is officially licensed by MLB and MLBPA. It also will be available for iPhone, iPad, supported Android smartphones and tablets, and PC/Mac via Steam.

In the United States, for the third straight year, the game will be available for $19.99 on consoles and $4.99 on smartphones and tablets. Complete details and launch dates for mobile and PC/MAC via Steam will be announced when available.